Depression is often called the “silent killer”. And for good reasons.
It’s a terrible disease that regularly goes unnoticed by other people. Hence, its name.
You are suffering from your waking moment till the moment you go to sleep. That is, if you are lucky enough to catch some sleep at all. Only to repeat that terrible cycle all over again the next day.
Today, I’m going to share my best practical tips to cure depression, or at least improve it, speaking from both personal experience and research.
They’re all aimed at forming an advantageous, restorative routine by creating good habits such as:
- Exercising.
- Setting goals.
- Establishing/maintaining a social support network.
- Adhering to a sleep schedule.
- Taking responsibility.
- Medication.
- Changing your mentality.
- Seeking help.
My best tips to cure depression
You need to take responsibility because you’re the only one in control of your life, and that’s what makes life worth living.
Not having any obligations might sound great and as a very attractive alternative way of living, but it’s a trap in disguise.
Without having any kind of duty, you have the advantage that nothing matters, so you can do whatever you want. But the big, largely unseen disadvantage of having no responsibility is precisely that nothing matters. How can you be content and happy when nothing in your life is valuable?
Take charge of your social life, your goals, what you need to improve on, and so on. Making sure to start small and gradually taking on more responsibility would be my best advice to prevent becoming swamped.
My life started improving drastically once I took ownership of my issues instead of blaming external events and people. A victim mentality has never helped anyone!
One of my best tips to cure depression is setting goals, no matter how insignificant they might seem.
That’s because it means you’ll have to take the necessary commitment to reach them. They give your life meaning by having something to pursue.
Everyone needs dreams, because why bother getting out of bed otherwise? If you are severely depressed, then there might be nothing that interests you anymore. As a result, it’s possible that you don’t have any goals or even the will to live anymore.
If this is the case, then I would say that you should set goals about the things you used to find important in the past. Think of common examples such as getting in shape, painting, gardening, or meeting with friends.
The only thing that truly matters here is setting aspirations for yourself that might be worth getting out of bed and living for. And if you don’t want to try the things you liked in the past, then attempt something new you think will bother you the least, even though you might not enjoy it in the end.
Make long-term objectives and split these up into short-term aims. Even better is to write them down somewhere to keep track of how your progress is going and have something to hold on to when times get tough.
Penning things down is also a very useful measuring tool to see how far you’ve already come.
I believe that every single person on this planet should exercise and be physically active. It’s a good practice best learned early on in life to keep your body and mind in shape.
Working out releases endorphins, which are our “happiness” hormones. The same effect can be noted when we eat chocolate or drink alcohol. However, training is a lot healthier than both of these alternatives.
Why is this important? Because your endorphin-serotonin system is unbalanced when you’re severely depressed.
Working out is a powerful cure to combat this phenomenon, with research even showing that exercise is as helpful to combat depression as antidepressants. While all forms of physical exertion are effective for your general well-being and curing your depression, the most efficient and healthiest way is to combine cardio with some form of resistance training, such as lifting weights or bodyweight exercises.
This easy tip can be hard to implement. Mainly because it’s possible to have no goals in life anymore when you are severely depressed. This makes it hard to get out of bed in the morning because why would you bother getting up when there’s nothing you look forward to?
It also doesn’t help being tired all the time because of all these negative thoughts and ruminations happening in your mind. Factor in having a lot of trouble falling asleep and sleeping through, and you can imagine why it’s so challenging to fix this unhealthy sleeping pattern.
Yet, going to bed and waking up at a fixed time does wonders for your sleep schedule. Being depressed means your biological rhythm is distorted, so you’ll need to try to reset this and keep it steady. Creating a healthy sleeping routine will aid you in keeping your biological rhythm and negative emotions in check.
This is the single best thing I have ever done to manage my mood issues. It doesn’t matter who you are; everyone needs sleep to recharge their batteries and to function well.
People who are depressed are often (although not always) overthinkers who focus more on bad events than they do on the positives. Or perhaps they may see the faults and wrongs of the world more clearly and accurately than other people who are oblivious to all the suffering going on? Something worth thinking about.
Sometimes, this distorted way of thinking is so pronounced that people struggling with mood disorders can’t even see the optimistic occasions in life anymore, which causes them to become angry, cynical, and resentful of others and the world they live in. That’s why you should learn to control your thoughts to moderate your emotions.
We should always remember that negative circumstances can bring about positive experiences and changes. So, you need to actively try to look at the good things that happen in life, no matter how small those might be.
I’m not asking you to renounce the fact that bad stuff is happening constantly because that’s the harsh reality of the situation. But it’s also true that there are a lot of good things happening in the world at this very moment. You just need to readjust your mentality and perspective to find those hopeful moments.
You might have to take antidepressants, depending on how severely depressed you are, to function somewhat. If your depression is not that intense, then it is possible to beat it without medication.
Whatever reasons you might have to not take antidepressants, they’re ultimately all moot when you’re gone. That’s why I think you should always take them when you’re suicidal or at risk for self-harm.
Whether it’s because you don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies, or because you view relying on pills as a form of “weakness” or “crutch”, that all doesn’t matter if you are so messed up that you are going to injure yourself. This might sound harsh, but it’s also true. All potential arguments you might have against medication become invalid and go right out the window if you happen to act on this suicidal ideation.
I’m not saying that medication is going to fix the cause of depression. But it often decreases the harsh symptoms that depression brings along, which will help you to at least perform decently enough to cure the root of your depression through other means, such as exercising and psychotherapy.
In short, it can help to make depression more manageable.
Human beings are highly social animals. And as someone quite introverted, even I have to admit that life is worth living because of our loved ones, but also that we all want (and need) love and acceptance from those around us.
It’s already been well documented that prolonged isolation or perceived loneliness can lead to and add to depression. Unfortunately, we tend to retreat from people when we’re depressed due to various reasons, such as feeling like a burden, being tired, or feeling sad. I know that I didn’t want to see anyone when I was struggling with mood issues, and that social withdrawal made me feel even worse.
It’s no shame having to rely on others from time to time when life’s too hard to deal with on our own. Try keeping in touch with your family and best friends, even if it’s a simple text or grabbing a coffee together.
A good support network can also help you recover by improving your mentality and the way you behave, simply by knowing people are there for you to rely on.
And last but certainly not least is to seek help.
Ultimately, we want to treat the root of the problem, be it through therapy, antidepressants, exercise, fixing our sleep, or a combination of the above.
Both professional help and support from close friends and family are invaluable to sustain yourself and get through the rough patches.
A psychologist can aid in getting a more accurate, objective perspective of the situation you’re dealing with while giving you practical tips to implement in your life.
I found cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) particularly helpful since it deals with both the mind AND behavior by changing unhelpful thinking, but also by providing actionable steps to carry out in daily life as well. Thinking and talking things through can be great, but our behavior impacts our well-being too, and is typically disrupted when suffering from depressive symptoms.
Mood issues often ruin our usual routine since we frequently end up quitting exercising, seeing our friends, and pursuing our goals due to the awful depressive symptoms. That’s why restoring beneficial habits as soon as possible is so crucial to get better and to prevent the disorder from worsening.
Making sense of depression
If you think about it logically, all the symptoms of depression make sense and work together to maintain these harmful signs. Consequently, the mental disorder persists as well.
Let me give you an example.
A severely depressed person might feel like life has nothing to offer anymore. And because they no longer have any goals to pursue, they might not even get out of bed. And even if they do, they do so at varying times, which disrupts their biological rhythm.
As a result, they frequently have trouble falling asleep because their biological rhythm is disturbed, and since their mind is filled with all those negative thoughts. And when they finally manage to catch some rest, they can’t sleep for long because they wake up multiple times at night. When they do get up, they have no desire or energy to do anything.
But would you have vigor if you didn’t desire anything or have any objectives in life anymore? Would you feel refreshed when you can’t sleep well? I know from experience that I don’t.
This is just an example of how these depressive symptoms cooperate and reinforce one another to maintain the depression in a vicious circle. All those symptoms go hand in hand so well that it’s very tough and challenging to break this negative pattern.
But it can be done. Even though you might not believe so at this moment.
It’s a complex disorder to treat because it can have so many causes. You may have a biological issue in your serotonin-dopamine system. Perhaps you’ve become depressed due to a tragic event. Maybe you have a negative mindset and overthink things. Or maybe you don’t sleep enough, which can also provoke depression.
What I’m trying to say here is that multiple possible causes can lead to a mood disorder, and it’s often multiple reasons combined.
That’s why we need holistic and comprehensive treatments that handle the mental, physical, and social aspects of depression. Fortunately, we can accomplish this by influencing various aspects of our daily lives simultaneously.
These are the most helpful tips to cure or at least combat depression, according to me. There are a lot more things to consider, but these are actions that ANYONE who suffers from depression, regardless of age or social network, can incorporate.
Final note
All previous tips aside, what you ultimately want to do is create beneficial, healthy routines that enable you to live contentedly and purposefully again.
Depression is often beatable without medication, except for the more severe cases that might require antidepressants to make the symptoms bearable enough so that you can function somewhat decently.
It is a vicious circle where all the negative symptoms empower each other to maintain the depression. All those indications together can immobilize you. And that’s precisely why we need to take a complete approach to combat this disorder.
Let me ask you this: what do you have to lose by trying out those steps? At worst, attempting something is still better than doing nothing!
Join our forum and Facebook
Please consider joining our forum and Facebook if you enjoyed reading this and would like to chat with like-minded peers about anything depression related.
It would certainly go a long way toward making my dream of creating a thriving, supportive community a reality!